Matthews’ Austin Borges and Alexander Harrold represented the sellers in both transactions.
“The market is hot right now,” Borges said, adding that properties like the ones that sold in Compton and Lynwood were both highly functional with multiple docks and high clearances.
The larger property, located at 11000 Wright Road, set a record for the highest price per square foot in Lynwood for a building of more than 25,000 square feet. The 46,200-square-foot property sold for $9.9 million, or $212 a square foot.
It was the largest building sold in Lynwood in the past five years, according to Matthews.
Wasatch Co. sold the property to Dahdoul Textiles Inc. Both are textile companies. Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. represented the buyer.
The deal was a short-term sale-leaseback, a type of transaction in which the company selling a property leases it back. Borges said the leaseback is only for a few months, at which time Dahdoul Textiles will move into the property.
He added that a recent move by Amazon.com Inc. into a nearby parking lot, plus the property’s proximity to downtown, LAX and the ports, made the site desirable.
In addition, Borges said, the property is unique because it has a cell tower leased to AT&T Inc. and a leased billboard.
“They could see a return on these two forms of passive income. It took a little longer to find that perfect buyer,” he said, adding that he did close to 70 tours of the property and received more than 15 offers.
The other sale, for 135 E. Stanley St., set a record for the highest price per square foot for a warehouse in Compton. The site sold for $5 million, or $242 a square foot.
San Francisco-based investment firm Lift Real Estate Partners purchased the property from an individual who previously owned Tank Holding Corp., a chemical services business. The unnamed individual was leasing it to the company.
Borges and Harrold represented the seller and the buyer in the transaction.
Borges said the property includes a lot of excess land, which made it appealing to the buyer.
He added that both properties are indicative of the state of the industrial real estate market.
“Industrial held up very, very well during the pandemic,” he said. “A lot of other property types, people couldn’t even get in to tour them. … The focus really shifted to industrial. The tenants really weren’t affected by what was going on.”
He said besides being used for warehousing and distribution, industrial space in L.A. is unique in that a lot of companies use it for manufacturing.
“Industrial, Los Angeles, already was hot starting 2013 and then this pandemic that hit just reaffirmed it, it just kept going,” Borges said.
